By Kevin Scott
SAINT PAUL, Minn., November 28, 2023 — The National Hockey League’s Minnesota Wild have announced the club has named Patrick Dwyer, a former Great Falls resident and player for the Great Falls Americans (1999-2001), as an Assistant Coach for the Wild.
Minnesota Wild General Manager Bill Guerin announced he will join the staff of new Head Coach John Hynes. On November 27, 2023, Hynes was named the Head Coach of the Wild after spending parts of four seasons (2020-2023) as Head Coach with the NHL’s Nashville Predators. Click here for John Hynes press release for the Minnesota Wild.
Dwyer, 40, started his coaching career with the American Hockey League’s (AHL) Charlotte Checkers as an Assistant Coach in 2019-20 before serving as an Assistant Coach for the AHL’s Chicago Wolves from 2020-23 and was a member of the 2021-22 Calder Cup winning squad. On July 5th, he was named as an Assistant Coach for the Iowa Wild of the American Hockey League on Brett McLean’s coaching staff.
During his playing days, Patrick got his start with the Great Falls (MT) Americans where he played from 1999-2001 and led the team with a 33-57 record. He helped the Great Falls American West Hockey League (AWHL) franchise in winning the AWHL championship before heading to the college ranks and playing for Western Michigan University (2001-2005). Dwyer served as a captain during his senior season for the Broncos.
The Great Falls Montana native scored 94 goals and dished out 102 assists (196 points) across 345 AHL games with the Chicago Wolves (2005-2006), Albany River Rats (2006-2010) and the Charlotte Checkers (2016-2017). Dwyer also played three seasons overseas starting in the 2015-2016 season with the MODO Hockey (Örnsköldsvik, Sweden) in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL). He also spent time with the Sønderjyske in Denmark (2017-18), and the Belfast Giants in the Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL) during the 2018-19 season.
The newest member of the Minnesota Wild’s coaching staff played in 416 NHL games scoring 93 points (42 goals, 51 assists, 93 pts.) as a forward for the Carolina Hurricanes in seven seasons (2008-2015).
Click here for the full press release for Patrick Dwyer’s hiring for the Minnesota Wild.
Additional Media Coverage: November 28, 2023: National Hockey League (NHL), Minnesota Wild: Minnesota Wild Names Patrick Dwyer as an Assistant Coach
Additional Media Coverage: November 29, 2023: North American 3 Hockey League (NA3HL): Former Americans player Dwyer named Assistant Coach of Wild